What we know: Tempe Councilman Kolby Granville misconduct allegations

Tempe Councilman Kolby Granville was fired from Tempe Preparatory Academy in December 2017 over allegations that he gave former underage students alcohol and made unwanted sexual advances toward one.
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Tempe Councilman Kolby Granville walks before the start of the Tempe City Council meeting at the Tempe Municipal Building on Feb. 8, 2018, in Tempe.(Photo: Patrick Breen/The Republic)

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Who is Granville?

Granville, 43, was twice elected to the City Council. His current term ends in 2020.

Granville is an attorney turned teacher, who began teaching at Tempe Preparatory Academy In January 2013. He was fired Dec. 21, 2017.

Why was he fired?

Granville was fired from Tempe Preparatory Academy after the school hired an attorney to investigate complaints of misconduct by two women who are former students of Tempe Prep but were not in Granville's classes, according to records and emails obtained by The Arizona Republic under the Arizona Public Records Law.

School officials said Granville was terminated for "breaching his Faculty Contract and for failing to comply with Tempe Prep's Employee Handbook and Code of Ethics."

In a statement, the school said: "We want to be clear that the reason for Mr. Granville’s termination has nothing to do with any known misconduct involving current students. We think it is important, however, to take allegations of any improper or unethical behavior seriously and to act swiftly, which we did in this case."

What's he accused of?

Two former Tempe Prep students in late November alleged to the school that Granville gave them alcohol when they were under 21; and one said he made unwanted sexual advances toward her. The women said the incidents occurred between 2013 and 2016.

A third student filed a complaint with the Arizona State Board for Charter Schools in late January, saying Granville made unwanted sexual advances toward her shortly after she graduated in 2013.

None of the three women were in Granville's classes and the alleged incidents occurred after they graduated.

What does Granville say?

Granville has acknowledged a relationship with one of the former students, which he said began when she was in college. He has denied the remainder of the allegations.

"Categorically, I’ve never provided alcohol underage to a minor, hands down," he told The Republic.

Granville declined comment on the third complaint, which The Republic reported on Feb. 6.

"There is nothing I can say about anything at this point. I’m totally on lockdown from my attorney," he said.

The first complaint

The school received the first complaint from a former student in late November.

The school would not release details of its meeting with the young woman, but provided a brief follow-up email between the former student and the school. In the email, she says Granville provided her with alcohol on at least four occasions while she was underage, including once in 2016 when they spent the night in the same room at the Luxor hotel and casino in Las Vegas.

Granville told The Republic he was in a consensual relationship with the woman, who he said he met when she was a student at Arizona State University.

The second complaint

Two days after the first complaint, another woman filed a complaint with the school.

In an email, the former Tempe Prep student, who is now 22, alleged that Granville invited her to a concert, "insisted on getting me drinks" and put his hand on her leg and kissed her without consent in 2013, which was shortly after she graduated from Tempe Prep.

In 2014, she said Granville served her alcohol at his home and made unwanted sexual advances, including sticking his hand down her pants.

“I pulled his hand out of my pants, grabbed my things and ran to my car and broke down in tears over what happened,” she wrote in the email.

The third complaint

Shortly after the The Republic wrote about the two complaints against Granville, a third young woman filed a complaint with the Arizona State Board for Charter Schools in late January.

She had graduated from Tempe Prep in 2013.

The woman, now a 22-year-old student at ASU, spoke with The Republic, which typically does not identify victims of alleged sex crimes.

The former student said in her complaint that Granville invited her to his house to talk about her plans to travel abroad. She said he began to talk "in detail" about his sexual experiences and kept taking her hand and putting it on his chest, according to the complaint.

When she told Granville she had to leave, he asked her if she was 18, according to the complaint. She told him she wasn't. She was 17 at the time.

"Well that shoots down my goodnight kiss idea," she alleges Granville said in reply.

Two months later, when she went to Granville's house again to return travel books, she said in the complaint that he closed the door and kissed her without her consent. At this point she had turned 18.

“Just the look in his eyes made me feel really scared,” she said to The Republic.

What more is Tempe Prep doing?

In the third complaint, the young woman said that she told a teacher about Granville's unwanted sexual advances shortly after she says they happened in 2013. In the complaint, she expressed concern that school officials didn't take action then.

"This belittled my experience and made me second guess coming forward not only to the school, but others," she said in the complaint.

The Republic has not reached the teacher, who no longer works at he school, for comment.

School officials said they are looking into the matter.

At this time, Tempe Preparatory Academy “does not have any reason to believe that the complaints regarding Mr. Granville of which TPA is now aware were made to TPA faculty members, or that such faculty members failed to report those complaints to school administration," a statement from the school said.

The statement goes on to say that the recent complaint confirms the school's "swift action to terminate Mr. Granville’s employment was the right decision."

What is the city doing?

Tempe officials said they were unaware of the allegations against Granville until reading The Republic's initial story on Jan. 18.

"The City of Tempe is reviewing the allegations made in the article, alongside the City Council Code of Conduct, and is evaluating what actions should be taken," a city statement on Jan. 19 said.

On Jan. 22, the city announced that Phoenix police would conduct an investigation into the allegations to avoid any conflicts of interest. Tempe expects to conduct its own investigation once Phoenix makes its determination, a city statement said.

What are Tempe leaders saying?

After the third complaint, councilmembers Lauren Kuby and Randy Keating called on Granville to resign.

"Granville has become a distraction from city business," Keating said in a statement Feb. 6.

"At a loss for words. She was 17," Kuby said on Facebook, "she was a CHILD."

Councilman David Schapira said he is confident the Phoenix investigation will be "comprehensive and expeditious" and Granville should resign immediately if the allegations are true.